“I’m an uncle.” He laughed. “I have a niece.”
“I have a feeling she’s going to be a spoilt little girl.”
“Damn straight.”
“Everyone is okay, right?” Carla asked, Sebastian keeping her close with an arm around her waist.
Derek pulled away from Tanner and deeply inhaled, pulling himself together. “Madison is fine. Sore but happy and just fed our daughter.” He looked at Tanner as he spoke. “Nora Claire Jackson is a healthy little girl at eight pounds-three ounces.
“Nora Claire?” Tanner whispered as Charlotte leaned into him.
“We thought naming her after your grandmother was a fitting tribute to a strong lady.”
Tanner nodded, and Dylan whispered to me, “Derek’s mother passed away a few years ago, before Charlotte and Madison had met her. She was a good woman from what I’ve heard.”
“That’s so sweet remembering her with their daughter.”
“Yes, it is,” Carla answered, having overheard. “When can we see them?”
“Now, but only two at a time. Hospital rules.”
“You go with Tanner.” Sebastian kissed his wife.
Charlotte hugged her husband tight. “Go and meet your sister.” She kissed him.
We watched them disappear from view and I felt Dylan sag against me. “Are you okay?”
“Relieved they’re both okay.”
“Can we go shopping once you’ve met your niece?”
“You want to start spoiling her, huh?”
“I certainly do.”
Dylan tightened his arms around me and said, “Who knew I’d fall in love one Christmas?”
“Not me.”
THE END
Of One Christmas
16
Jaxon
Prologue
Music so loud thuds in my head with every beat while I try to adjust my eyes in the crowded nightclub. There is only one reason why I'm putting myself through this, and her name is Poppy Green—a young genius who turns heads wherever she goes. And yes, that includes mine. The difference between them and me is that I'm the only guy who makes her blush a lovely shade of red when I talk to her.
Professor Green, at the age of twenty-seven, knows her subject: English Lit, but she appears clueless when it comes to me. She's had my attention from the moment I spotted her moving quickly through the courtyard of the University. Her legs had eaten up the distance while her brown hair had bounced around her shoulders. I'd gotten a closer look during the lecturers she'd covered, and I wanted to see a lot more of her.
I’d gotten the message loud and clear—no dating students. However, there was something about her that I couldn’t walk away from. Her smile made me crave her until my body was hot and uncomfortable. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by her.
She'd been so apparent at the end of the lecture earlier today when she'd made sure I’d overhear the details of her date.
So here I am, stalking my Professor because she shouldn’t be on a date with anyone but me. My decision to be here has a lot to do with her hesitation about following through with whatever she’s arranged, more than my jealousy. If I thought she truly wanted to be here with him, no matter how much it hurt, I wouldn’t be punishing myself by being here. I just want to make sure she’s okay.